MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – A senior Somali official and close ally of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has issued a blistering critique of the head of state, accusing him of driving Somalia toward fragmentation, economic collapse, and political isolation.
In a sharply worded open letter released Thursday, Villa Somalia’s special advisor on talks with Somaliland, Abdikarim Hussein Guled, warned that the president’s unilateral decisions and alleged mismanagement risk undoing years of progress made toward national unity and state-building.
Guled, a former president of Galmudug and ex-security minister during Mohamud’s previous term, lamented what he described as a dramatic erosion of public trust and institutional strength since the president returned to power in 2022.
“When President Mohamud assumed office, the nation enjoyed a rare moment of cohesion—military strength, economic stability, and broad political consensus. Today, those pillars have crumbled,” Guled wrote.
He accused the president of undermining the national armed forces—numbering around 70,000 and funded by the federal government—by instead mobilizing clan-based militias and diverting critical resources, a move he described as destabilizing and detrimental to the ongoing fight against Islamist militants.
Rather than bolstering the professional national army, the President has prioritized parochial allegiances, weakening command structures and draining the coffers meant for our soldiers, Guled said.
On the political front, Guled rebuked Mohamud’s push for a unilateral electoral process, warning it flouts Somalia’s established post-2000 tradition of inclusive, consensus-driven transitions. He urged the president to convene a national summit to reach agreement among all stakeholders on the form and timing of upcoming elections.
This country’s political tradition is one of dialogue, not decree. The rhetoric that no one will stop the train is not only divisive—it is dangerous, he wrote, calling on Mohamud to restore public confidence by engaging in transparent and credible political processes.
Guled also leveled accusations of opaque oil drilling deals with foreign entities, illegal land grabs, and forced civilian displacements—all contributing, he argued, to worsening economic hardship and growing insecurity.
The advisor further warned that the president’s handling of relations with the breakaway Somaliland region had stalled hopes for reconciliation, while internal unity among southern regions had deteriorated to its final gasp.
Somalia stands at a precipice, Guled concluded. The path forward must be guided by consensus, transparency, and a renewed commitment to national unity—not personal ambition, he added.
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